[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 87 (Friday, May 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26562-26564]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10669]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2011-1106]


Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Dynamic Positioning Guidance

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of Recommended Interim Voluntary Guidance.

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SUMMARY: On December 29, 2011, the Coast Guard published a notice of 
availability and request for comments regarding a draft policy letter 
on Dynamic Positioning (DP) Systems, Emergency Disconnect Systems, 
Blowout Preventers, and related training and emergency procedures on a 
Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit. We received comments both as submissions 
to the docket and at a public meeting held on February 9, 2012, at 
Coast Guard Headquarters. Based on the comments received, the Coast 
Guard intends to adjust the scope of the policy described in that 
notice. The Coast Guard is publishing this notice to recommend interim 
voluntary DP system guidance and recommend DP incident reporting 
criteria.

DATES: The policy outlined in this document is effective May 4, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Comments and material received from the public, as well as 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
are part of docket USCG-2011-1106 and are available for inspection or 
copying at the Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also find this 
docket on the Internet by going to http://www.regulations.gov, 
inserting USCG-2011-1106 in the ``Keyword'' box, and then clicking 
``Search.''

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
call Commander Joshua Reynolds, U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Design and 
Engineering Standards, Human Element and Ship Design Division (CG-
5211), telephone (202) 372-1355. If you have questions on viewing the 
docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, 
telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General

A. Background and Intent To Publish Rule

    Over the past several decades, the expansion of offshore 
exploration, development and production into deeper water has 
transformed an industry once characterized by relatively simple, 
domestic shallow water fixed platforms and small logistical vessels 
into an industry with complex, international floating vessels supplied 
and serviced by other large, international multipurpose vessels. This 
has given rise to the use of DP as a practical means for keeping these 
vessels within precise geographic limits. Failure of a DP system on a 
vessel conducting critical operations such as oil exploration and 
production could have severe consequences including loss of life, 
pollution, and property damage. This is particularly true for Mobile 
Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs), where a loss of position could result 
in a subsea spill and potentially catastrophic environmental 
consequences. The Deepwater Horizon incident demonstrated the serious 
challenges associated with subsea spill response. In a preliminary 
effort to better understand critical systems, training, and emergency 
procedures put in place to prevent or mitigate a loss of position on a 
dynamically positioned MODU and inform any related future rulemaking, 
the Coast Guard published a notice in the Federal Register (76 FR 
81957) requesting public comment on a draft policy. We received 
comments both as submissions to the docket and at a public meeting held 
on February 9, 2012. The Coast Guard was encouraged to publish a rule 
for areas where no standard has been set and to consider industry 
standards and guidance when developing the rule. The Coast Guard agrees 
and intends to initiate a rulemaking that addresses DP incident 
reporting requirements and minimum DP system design and operating 
standards.

B. Immediate Areas of Concern

    As discussed in the draft policy letter published with the notice 
of availability on December 29, 2011, there have been several DP 
incidents in the Gulf of Mexico involving both DP system equipment 
failures and human error on MODUs. Because of the consequences 
associated with a deepwater subsea spill, the Coast Guard believes DP 
incidents on MODUs engaged in drilling represent the most immediate 
concern and chooses to address them first.
    To ensure sufficient safety measures are developed, the Coast Guard 
needs to improve its awareness of DP incidents on MODUs. The existing 
regulations on the reporting of marine casualties have proven ill-
suited for reporting of DP related incidents, as they do not require a 
MODU (either U.S. or foreign) to report DP incidents to the Coast 
Guard. There are also reporting disparities between U.S. and foreign 
flagged MODUs. For example, U.S. flagged MODUs are required by 46 CFR 
4.05 to report some equipment failures to the Coast Guard, but there is 
confusion and ambiguity over how these requirements apply to DP related 
incidents, and they do not apply to foreign flagged MODUs. Some MODU 
vessel operators have voluntarily reported some DP incidents to the 
Coast Guard, but the Coast Guard believes this practice is not 
universal. The Coast Guard is considering updates to its marine 
casualty reporting requirements, and will consider past 
recommendations, including public comments on a notice of proposed 
rulemaking, ``Outer Continental Shelf Activities,'' published on 
December 7, 1999 (64 FR 68416) and the recommendations of the National 
Offshore Advisory Committee (NOSAC) subcommittee on incident reporting, 
and will provide further opportunity for public comment.
    Coast Guard regulations currently do not include specific DP system 
design and operating standards. In addition, there is a disparity 
between requirements for U.S. and foreign flagged MODUs. For U.S. 
dynamically positioned MODUs, the Coast Guard views a DP system, as 
defined in International Maritime Organization (IMO) Maritime Safety 
Committee Circular 645 paragraph 1.3.2, as a vital system under our 
regulations in 46 CFR part 62. While Part 62 contains a ``failsafe'' 
concept that could be directly applied for an Equipment Class 1 DP 
system, it does not have an equivalent concept that directly applies to 
DP system reliability for Equipment Class 2 or 3 as discussed in 
paragraph 2 of the Circular. Because the Coast Guard believes that a 
dynamically positioned MODU engaged in drilling should meet a minimum 
of Equipment Class 2 as defined in paragraph 2.2 of the Circular, Part 
62 should be updated to make it more directly applicable to U.S. 
dynamically positioned MODUs. Foreign flagged MODUs have several 
options for compliance with coastal state regulations in 33 CFR 
143.207, one of which is compliance with the 1979 MODU Code (IMO 
Assembly Resolution A.414(XI)). This Code does not contain any 
standards applicable to DP systems. Although more recent versions of 
the MODU Code reference IMO circulars with DP system guidelines, the 
Coast Guard has not yet adopted these Codes in its regulations. The 
Coast Guard is considering adopting updated versions of the MODU code, 
including any DP circulars referenced by these versions, and any DP 
related recommendations by the NOSAC. These areas of concern are likely 
to be the subject of a future rulemaking.

II. Interim Voluntary DP System Guidance

    On July 7th, 2010, in response to a request from the Coast Guard, 
NOSAC issued the report ``Recommendations for Dynamic Positioning 
System Design and Engineering, Operational and Training Standards.'' 
The report contained draft guidelines from the Marine Technology 
Society (MTS) Dynamic Positioning Committee, which the MTS has since 
completed. The Coast Guard has reviewed the guidance, referred to it 
when responding to known DP incidents and found it to be comprehensive 
and highly useful. Until the Coast Guard publishes a DP Rule, the Coast 
Guard recommends owners and operators of dynamically positioned MODUs 
(not leaseholders who contract MODUs) operating on the U.S. Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS) voluntarily follow guidance provided in the 
``DP Operations Guidance Prepared through the Dynamic Positioning 
Committee of the Marine Technology Society to aid in the safe and 
effective management of DP Operations'', March 2012 Part 2 Appendix 1 
(dynamically positioned MODUs), available at http://www.dynamic-positioning.com/dp_operations_guidance.cfm.
    It is particularly important they identify the DP System's Critical 
Activity Mode of Operation (CAMO) and ensure Well Specific Operating 
Guideline (WSOGs) are developed for operations at every well and 
location. A MODU attached to the seafloor of the U.S. OCS should be 
operated in accordance with the appropriate WSOG. The WSOG should 
clearly state which

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well operations are critical and require the DP System configured in 
its CAMO for these operations.
    In addition to following the MTS DP Operations Guidance, MODU 
owners or operators are encouraged to voluntarily report to the Coast 
Guard reactive changes of DP status from ``green'' to ``red'' as 
described paragraph 4.11 using the procedures listed in 46 CFR 4.05.

III. Authority

    This document is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a), 43 
U.S.C. 1331, et seq., and 33 CFR 1.05-1. The guidance contained in this 
notice is not a substitute for applicable legal requirements, nor is it 
itself a regulation. It is not intended to nor does it impose legally 
binding requirements on any party. It represents the Coast Guard's 
current thinking on this topic and may assist industry, mariners, the 
general public, and the Coast Guard, as well as other Federal and State 
regulators, in applying statutory and regulatory requirements. You can 
use an alternative approach if the approach satisfies the requirements 
of the applicable statutes and regulations.

    Dated: April 27, 2012.
J.G. Lantz,
Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 2012-10669 Filed 5-2-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P